Variation in long-term engraftment of a large consecutive series of lambs transplanted in utero with human hematopoietic cells.
We investigated the survival and chimeric engraftment characteristics of a large consecutive series of lambs that were transplanted with human hematopoietic cells in utero. Approximately 50% of the fetal sheep survived. Neither the transplantation of human cells into fetal sheep, nor the parity of the ewe was associated with increased mortality, as compared with the risk of surgery alone. However, a breed-associated mortality was noted. Sixty percent of surviving recipient lambs contained donor, human hematopoietic cells in blood and bone marrow (BM) cells. Chimerism ranged from 0.0001-1%. Human hematopoietic progenitors were identified in the BM in 8 of 12 chimeric sheep examined. Some lambs engrafted with human cells maintained a human chimerism for up to at least 2 years. Our data demonstrate that a large proportion of fetal sheep are capable of engrafting human cells, albeit at widely variable levels of engraftment.
Bernstein
J
J
Department of Pediatrics, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis 46202-5210, USA.
Boyle
D W
DW
Srour
E F
EF
Cooper
R
R
Jacobs
C
C
Freie
B
B
Liechty
E
E
Clapp
D W
DW
D000034:Abortion, Veterinary / Q000209:etiology; D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D001805:Blood Transfusion, Intrauterine; D002678:Chimera; D005260:Female; D005313:Fetal Death / Q000209:etiology; D005865:Gestational Age; D006085:Graft Survival; D018380:Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation / Q000401:mortality; D006801:Humans; D007275:Injections, Intravenous; D011247:Pregnancy; D012756:Sheep / Q000196:embryology / Q000276:immunology*; D013045:Species Specificity; D014183:Transplantation, Heterologous / Q000276:immunology / Q000401:mortality; D014471:Umbilical Veins